Four former South Florida teachers lose licenses

July 23, 2013|By Scott Travis, Sun Sentinel

The state has revoked the teaching licenses of four former Broward and Palm Beach County educators for misconduct ranging from bank fraud to child abuse.

Those notified by the Department of Education this summer were: Paul Sweeney, who taught at Arthur Ashe Middle in Fort Lauderdale; Sharon Lee Vaninger, who taught special-needs children at Tedder Elementary in Pompano Beach; Thomas Correa, a former assistant principal at Lanier-James Education Center in Hallandale Beach; and Scott Blake, former principal at Polo Park Middle in Wellington.

None could be reached for comment.

Sweeney, 39, lost his license for an incident in which a disruptive student was sent to his world history class in April 2010 for "time out." Sweeney told the student to pick five students to hit him on the neck. When the student protested, Sweeney had his students "punch, slap and kick" the boy, according to DOE. He resigned in November 2010.

The incidents involving Vaninger, 69, happened around February 2012. According to a police report, she repeatedly placed a 3-year old special-needs boy in a storage room with the door closed for up to an hour. In January, she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was required to give up her license.

Correa, 49, was sentenced to two years in federal prison in March 2012 for committing bank fraud and making false statements.

Blake, 48, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in January on sex charges. He tried to set up a meeting with a 15-year-old, who was actually an undercover officer. He also told the officer he had once had sex with a 16-year-old boy in a hotel room.